Do you ever get the feeling while you're teaching that if you stopped talking and asking questions then nothing would be learned?
If this was actually true, then how would people learn anything in the absence of teachers? Conversations are an essential ingredient in learning inside and outside any science classroom. But what are the types of classroom discourse other than teacher Q&A and how should a new teacher utilize and manage each type in his or her class?
These are some notes I took from a book chapter that explains the difference between recitation and classroom discussion. - fogleman
Ref: Weinstein, C. S., Mignano, A. J. (2006). Elementary classroom management: Lessons from research and practice, 4th edition. New York. McGraw-Hill.
Ch 10: Managing Recitations and Discussions
Summary: Chapter distinguishes between recitation (teacher-led; I-R-E) and discussion (teacher-facilitated; S-S). Both discourse patterns have their places in classrooms. Recitations are used allowing students to express themselves more completely than in writing and assessing student understanding, but is often criticized as being dominated by the teacher and encouraging student passively. Discussion involves student-to-student discourse, idea sharing, and backing up statements with reasoning. Discussion is rarely seen in classrooms. Article suggests guidelines and questions teachers can use to facilitate small group discussions.
Recitations vs Discussions
Typical teacher student discourse resembles a quiz show, with teachers asking a question, the student replying, and the teacher evaluating the student's response. This is called initiation-response-evaluation, "I-R-E," or recitation.
Recitation has been criticized for its teacher dominance, student passivity and isolation, and its requirement of low-level recall of information.
Barbara, a teacher, whose example recitation is included in the chapter, notes that recitation is a good strategy for (1) allowing students to express themselves more completely than they would in their writing, (2) determining what students bring to the lesson as far as prior knowledge, (3) scaffold their written answers by pointing out model answers, (4) surface and clear up misconceptions, and (5) convey information without just "telling them everything."
"In contrast to recitation, discussion is a form of verbal interaction in which individuals work together to consider an issue or a question. The discussion is intended to stimulate a variety of responses, to encourage students to consider different points of view, to foster problem solving, to examine implications, and to relate material to students' own personal experiences (Good & Brophy, 2000). In a discussion, individuals may offer their understandings, relevant facts, suggestions, opinions, perspectives, and experiences. These are examined for their usefulness in answering the question or resolving the issue (Dillon, 1994)." (p. 303).
In contrast to recitation, discussion involves students as co-generators and deciders.
There is ample evidence that despite their own accounts of their practice, teachers rarely use discussion as a classroom strategy. (See Alvermann, O'Brien, and Dillon, 1990; Goodlad, 1984).
Dillon (1994) suggests three reasons for the infrequency of classroom discussion: (1) it is a learned and difficult behavior for Ts and Ss; (2) Ts have had few experiences with classroom discussions; and (3) school culture is not generally supportive of discussion (due to a focus on "covering the curriculum" efficiently).
Both recitation and discussion have their place in the classroom. (305)
The Pitfalls of Recitations
Unequal participation. When the T asks a question to 25 students, and several Ss raise their hands, who should the T call on to answer? Considerations: (1) calling only on volunteers means interacting with a small number of students; (2) Ss learn more when actively participating; (3) limiting pool of answerers communicates negative expectations to the other Ss.
Losing it all: Pace, Focus, and Involvement. Each question a T asks in a recitation is a risk, and Ts must make quick decisions on how to react to Ss answers in order to keep the recitation on track.
"During recitations, you are frequently confronted with two incompatible needs: the need to stay with an individual to enhance that child's learning and the need to move on to avoid losing both the momentum and the group's attention." (p. 306)
There is more going on in these exchanges that just information exchange. The teacher is also influencing the sociocultural dimensions of the class such as peer-standing. After a student asks a seemingly off-topic question in her recitation, Barbara allows the question to stand and later talks about her reasons for making that decision:
"Jessica's question really floored me, and I was tempted to to go on. We had been moving at a nice clip, and I didn't want to loose the flow. I also didn't want to loose the focus of the discussion. Be she seemed sincere -- it didn't seem like a ploy to get us off the topic -- and she hardly every participates. This book is really a challenge for her. I decided to to let the question stand because I wanted to bring her into the conversation, to "move her up" in the eyes of the other kids, and to give her some credibility. ... " (p. 307)
Difficulties in Monitoring Students' Comprehension. Relying on the answers of volunteer students may result in the T getting an inaccurate idea of how well the class as a whole understands a given topic.
Incompatibility with the Communication Patterns That Children Bring to School. I-R-E exchanges between Ts and Ss are rooted in White middle class values, and therefore may not be as natural to other cultural sub-groups.
There are also gender differences in how people engage in conversation. Post research suggests that females spend more time establishing rapport and males spend more time establishing status. Classroom research also suggests that teachers favor males in classroom discourse situations (309).
Strategies for Managing Recitations
Distribute Chances to Participate. Ts can devise systems that require all students to contribute to recitations, e.g. "Pick-me sticks."
Provide Time to Think. Establish an accepted wait time of 3 seconds.
Stimulate and Maintain Interest. Use humor, mystery, and physical activity.
Provide Feedback to Students. Feedback should include thoughtful affirmation, correction, or followup.
Require Overt Response. Use response cards, choral answering, etc to engage everyone.
Support Participation of Diverse Learners. Track who you call on and how often; Recognize culturally diverse discourse patterns; consider accommodations.
Strategies for Moderating Discussions
Three guidelines for facilitating classroom discussions: (1) limit size of group (use fishbowl if necessary); (2) arrange students so that they can make eye contact; (3) prepare students by explicitly teaching prerequisite skills, including:
Talk to each other, not just the moderator.
Don't monopolize.
Ask others what they think.
Don't engage in personal attack.
Listen to others' ideas.
Acknowledge others' ideas.
Question irrelevant remarks.
Ask for clarification.
Give reasons for your opinions.
Questions the teacher can ask as discussion facilitator:
Questions that ask for more evidence. e.g. How do you know that? What data is that claim based on?
Questions that ask for clarification. Can you put that another way? What do you mean by that?
Linking or extension questions. e.g. Is there any connection between what you've just said and ---? How does your comment fit with --- earlier comment?
Hypothetical questions. What might have happened if ---?
Cause and effect questions. What is likely to be the effect of ---?
Summary and synthesis questions What are the one or two most important ideas that emerged from this discussion? What remains unresolved or contentious about this topic?
If this was actually true, then how would people learn anything in the absence of teachers? Conversations are an essential ingredient in learning inside and outside any science classroom. But what are the types of classroom discourse other than teacher Q&A and how should a new teacher utilize and manage each type in his or her class?
These are some notes I took from a book chapter that explains the difference between recitation and classroom discussion. -
Ref: Weinstein, C. S., Mignano, A. J. (2006). Elementary classroom management: Lessons from research and practice, 4th edition. New York. McGraw-Hill.
Ch 10: Managing Recitations and Discussions
Summary: Chapter distinguishes between recitation (teacher-led; I-R-E) and discussion (teacher-facilitated; S-S). Both discourse patterns have their places in classrooms. Recitations are used allowing students to express themselves more completely than in writing and assessing student understanding, but is often criticized as being dominated by the teacher and encouraging student passively. Discussion involves student-to-student discourse, idea sharing, and backing up statements with reasoning. Discussion is rarely seen in classrooms. Article suggests guidelines and questions teachers can use to facilitate small group discussions.Recitations vs Discussions
Typical teacher student discourse resembles a quiz show, with teachers asking a question, the student replying, and the teacher evaluating the student's response. This is called initiation-response-evaluation, "I-R-E," or recitation.Recitation has been criticized for its teacher dominance, student passivity and isolation, and its requirement of low-level recall of information.
Barbara, a teacher, whose example recitation is included in the chapter, notes that recitation is a good strategy for (1) allowing students to express themselves more completely than they would in their writing, (2) determining what students bring to the lesson as far as prior knowledge, (3) scaffold their written answers by pointing out model answers, (4) surface and clear up misconceptions, and (5) convey information without just "telling them everything."
"In contrast to recitation, discussion is a form of verbal interaction in which individuals work together to consider an issue or a question. The discussion is intended to stimulate a variety of responses, to encourage students to consider different points of view, to foster problem solving, to examine implications, and to relate material to students' own personal experiences (Good & Brophy, 2000). In a discussion, individuals may offer their understandings, relevant facts, suggestions, opinions, perspectives, and experiences. These are examined for their usefulness in answering the question or resolving the issue (Dillon, 1994)." (p. 303).
In contrast to recitation, discussion involves students as co-generators and deciders.
There is ample evidence that despite their own accounts of their practice, teachers rarely use discussion as a classroom strategy. (See Alvermann, O'Brien, and Dillon, 1990; Goodlad, 1984).
Dillon (1994) suggests three reasons for the infrequency of classroom discussion: (1) it is a learned and difficult behavior for Ts and Ss; (2) Ts have had few experiences with classroom discussions; and (3) school culture is not generally supportive of discussion (due to a focus on "covering the curriculum" efficiently).
Both recitation and discussion have their place in the classroom. (305)
The Pitfalls of Recitations
"During recitations, you are frequently confronted with two incompatible needs: the need to stay with an individual to enhance that child's learning and the need to move on to avoid losing both the momentum and the group's attention." (p. 306)
There is more going on in these exchanges that just information exchange. The teacher is also influencing the sociocultural dimensions of the class such as peer-standing. After a student asks a seemingly off-topic question in her recitation, Barbara allows the question to stand and later talks about her reasons for making that decision:
"Jessica's question really floored me, and I was tempted to to go on. We had been moving at a nice clip, and I didn't want to loose the flow. I also didn't want to loose the focus of the discussion. Be she seemed sincere -- it didn't seem like a ploy to get us off the topic -- and she hardly every participates. This book is really a challenge for her. I decided to to let the question stand because I wanted to bring her into the conversation, to "move her up" in the eyes of the other kids, and to give her some credibility. ... " (p. 307)
Difficulties in Monitoring Students' Comprehension. Relying on the answers of volunteer students may result in the T getting an inaccurate idea of how well the class as a whole understands a given topic.
Incompatibility with the Communication Patterns That Children Bring to School. I-R-E exchanges between Ts and Ss are rooted in White middle class values, and therefore may not be as natural to other cultural sub-groups.
There are also gender differences in how people engage in conversation. Post research suggests that females spend more time establishing rapport and males spend more time establishing status. Classroom research also suggests that teachers favor males in classroom discourse situations (309).
Strategies for Managing Recitations
Strategies for Moderating Discussions
Three guidelines for facilitating classroom discussions: (1) limit size of group (use fishbowl if necessary); (2) arrange students so that they can make eye contact; (3) prepare students by explicitly teaching prerequisite skills, including:
Questions the teacher can ask as discussion facilitator: